Hey friend,
If you’ve been job searching for a while…
If you’ve been trying to make a change for a while…
If you’ve been gunning for a promotion that just hasn’t happened yet…
This message is for you.
Many people assume the week between Christmas and New Year’s is “dead time” that nothing meaningful happens and everything pauses until January.
That’s simply not true.
I just got off the phone with a client who is negotiating the final details of an offer on December 29th.
Hiring doesn’t pause.
Yes, some things slow. Interviews get rescheduled. People take time off. But a lot also happens quickly during this window because leaders are trying to wrap things up before budgets reset.
Teams are often motivated to:
Use remaining budget
Lock in headcount before the new year
Avoid reopening approvals in January
Close roles that have been dragging
Which means: this is not the time to give up.
When things get hard — maybe you’ve applied for 30, 40, 50 roles and heard nothing back, this is usually the moment people start thinking:
“Maybe I should just pursue something else.”
“Maybe I need to switch paths.”
“It would probably be easier in another field.”
And unless you truly dislike the work you’re pursuing (in which case, yes — we should change tracks), this instinct is almost always a mistake.
What’s usually required isn’t quitting, it’s upleveling.
Most people give up too soon.
They underestimate how competitive today’s market is.
They underestimate what it requires of them.
And they miss the invitation to uplevel how they are approaching their goal.
Because here’s the truth:
Knowing how to job search (or position yourself for growth) is a skill.
And like any skill, it must be learned, practiced, refined, and improved.
One of my favorite filters to use is this:
More. Better. Different.
MORE: Sometimes you simply need to increase the volume, more outreach, more conversations, more visibility.
BETTER: Other times, you need to get better at how you’re doing it, clearer positioning, stronger storytelling, more confident self-advocacy.
DIFFERENT: And sometimes, you need new strategies entirely, different ways of networking, reaching out, or being seen.
Instead of asking, “Should I give up?” try asking:
Do I need to do more of what I’m already doing?
Do I need to get better at how I’m doing it?
Or do I need to try something different?
I recently came across a post by Stacey Boehman about entrepreneurship, and it stopped me in my tracks, because it so perfectly captures what I see happen all the time with job seekers and professionals working toward any worthy goal.
We give up far too soon.
We dramatically underestimate what it’s really going to take.
Here’s what she wrote:
We often ask ourselves why it isn’t working yet.
We think it isn’t working because it hasn’t worked yet.
We start troubleshooting.
We start wondering what the problem is.
We start feeling low about it not working.
We start feeling like it’s all pointless. Why bother?
We start to give up. A little here and a little there.
We lose motivation.
We do something else instead.
It keeps not working.
But all that has happened is that we underestimated the time and effort it would take.
We didn’t keep working when it was working.
We didn’t stay working no matter what.
We didn’t learn the actual amount of effort it takes.
Now we will never know, unless we pick working back up and decide it works all the way… until it does.
If this feels uncomfortably familiar, you’re not alone.
This is exactly what happens in job searches, career transitions, and promotions, not because you’re doing something wrong, but
because most people underestimate the
duration,
iteration, and the
skill-building
required to get where they want to go.
So, when results don’t show up quickly, they assume it’s not working.
When effort doesn’t immediately pay off, they pull back.
And when discouragement creeps in, they quietly stop, right when consistency matters most.
People don’t fail because they aren’t capable.
They fail because they stop too soon.
So, here’s my invitation to you as we close out the year: don’t take your foot off the gas.
Stay in motion but be willing to adjust how you’re moving.
Keep working, thoughtfully, strategically, and with support, until it works.
That’s how you discover what it really takes.
And that’s how breakthroughs happen.
Cheering you on,
